RICK NELSON
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Updated
1/3/2013

Critic Rick Nelson reminisces about his favorite dishes of 2012.

1. Prime cut
One of the Twin Cities’ great culinary indulgences is the ever-changing eight-course tasting menu at La Belle Vie. Case in point: a riff on beef that chefs Tim McKee and Mike DeCamp placed into their mid-April rotation. Half the plate was devoted to a richly nuanced terrine of beef cheek; the other had an otherworldly rib-eye crowned by an equally sublime Roquefort. (510 Groveland Av., Mpls., 612-874-6440, www.labellevie.us.)

2. Lightened up
One of the year’s top “small plates” was the sweet pea “pâté” at Birdhouse, Stewart and Heidi Woodman’s healthy-eating version of the all-day diner. It was as ingenious as it was delicious, a delicate swirl of puréed peas enhanced with chèvre, crème fraîche, traces of mint and sparkling pink sea salt. (2516 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 612-377-2213, www.birdhousempls.com.)

4. Oyster bar, minus the bar
At Mona Restaurant & Bar, chef/owner Lisa Hanson has a master’s touch with a basic wood chip-filled pan, a technique she exploits with bracingly fresh-off-the-plane Wellfleet or Malpeque oysters. The smoky flavor teases rather than overwhelms, and a hint of sherry vinegar only enhances the experience. (333 S. 7th St., 612-259-8636, www.monarestaurant.com.)

5. Love among small plates
In composing her menu, Nightingale chef/co-owner Carrie McCabe-Johnston follows a philosophy of cooking what she wants to eat when she dines out. Thank goodness one of her cravings includes pork shoulder, carefully smoked, braised and shredded into mouth-melting juiciness. (2551 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls., 612-354-7060, www.facebook.com/nightingalempls.)

7. Hail Caesar
The Kenwood chef/owner Don Saunders’ idealized version of the Caesar salad is a doozy. Hearts of romaine are grilled until the outer leaves get a slight char. Then comes the one-two finish: a white wine Dijon vinaigrette and a creamy emulsion of lemon juice and egg yolks. (2115 W. 21st St., Mpls., 612-377-3695, www.thekenwoodrestaurant.com.)

8. Breakfast bonanza
The going rate for perfection — at Patisserie 46, anyway — is $2. That’s the price of the croissants that are the pride of baker John Kraus. Delicately flaky on the outside, an ode to near-absurd levels of buttery flakiness inside, they’re one of the Twin Cities’ great bakery miracles. (4552 Grand Av. S., Mpls., 612-354-3257, www.patisserie46.com.)

9. Nordic high note
Fika, and chef Michael Fitzgerald, might be the best things to happen to the American Swedish Institute. Case in point: the restaurant’s open-face salmon sandwich. It begins with a slice of a dense, sesame seed-studded bread of locally milled rye berries and oats topped with crisply seared salmon, minced red beets and a feisty mustard sauce. (2600 Park Av. S., Mpls., 612-871-4907, www.asimn.org.)

10. Smokin’ good
Nothing over-the-tops the over-the-top nature of meat-centric Butcher & the Boar than the spectacular smoked long rib. What lands at the table is a football-sized hunk of bone-in beef that has been sugar-cured, smoked and glazed in molasses and Tabasco. The wood-burning grill transforms it into a paragon of goodness that’s all sticky sweet-hot crustiness on the outside and juicy and fall-off-the-bone tender on the inside. (1121 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 612-238-8888, www.butcherandtheboar.com.)